Angora Roving
by silvermyth
Summary: In which Sora decides to get a pet rabbit, whose name is Riku. Easter-themed fluff.
**A/N:** Happy Easter everyone!

 **Angora Roving**

Sora propped his chin on a hand, idly stirring his coffee with the other. "It gets so lonely having my own place. Who knew becoming a responsible adult with my own place would be so quiet?"

"Aw, c'mon, Sora," Kairi chided. "Don't act like you never get to hang out with anyone! Just because we're not in school anymore doesn't mean you stop doing fun things!"

"Yeah, I know. I just…I never thought I'd say this, but I miss having a roommate." He let out an exaggerated sigh.

Kairi rolled her eyes. "You were the one all gung-ho to get your own place."

"I know!"

"So, how about a pet?"

Sora pursed his lips, giving it thought. "Don't like cats. And my lease says no dogs."

Kairi tapped her chin. "Hmm. Maybe something small? A bird? A guinea pig? Oh! A bunny! Bunnies are super cute! Olette has one that's really sociable, and it's low maintenance compared to a dog."

Sora straightened. "A…bunny?" It wasn't an animal he'd really thought of as a pet.

"Yeah!" She pulled her phone from a pocket and tapped the screen rapidly, before turning it to show Sora the photo. In it was Olette, with a tawny, flop-eared rabbit in her lap, a miniature tiara balanced atop its head. "So cute, right?" She flipped to another photo of the critter sprawled flat on the floor, looking utterly content.

"Very cute. It seriously let Olette put that thing on its head?"

"Yeah! She said she's very docile!" She hummed, returning to tapping on her phone. "And you know, Easter just passed, so I bet there's a lot of unwanted bunnies that need to be adopted." A small frown. "People just don't realize that a pet is not a gift, you know?" She turned the phone to Sora again. "Here, look, this little guy's not far from here, and they're giving the cage and food away with him."

Sora frowned at the black bunny on the screen. "But isn't this kind of a hasty decision? Getting a pet all of the sudden…"

Kairi smiled and pocketed her phone. "Yeah, you're right. But a pet would be a good thing for you, Sora! Someone to greet you when you come home from work."

Sora lifted his coffee mug to his lips. "Hm, well, I'll think about it."

Sora was still thinking about it a week later. A pet did sound nice. He'd always liked dogs, but unless he moved into a different building, he wouldn't be able to have one without violating his lease. An internet search told him the basics of what would be required to care for a rabbit, which foods were needed, warning signs of illness, behavior. He found several mentions of a "binky," an amusing, twisting jump for joy that bunnies did, and Sora was pretty sure he'd love to have an animal with that kind of spirit.

So he found himself browsing the Craigslist ads, in search of a rabbit to rescue.

As Kairi had said, there were plenty, with Easter having just passed, and he wondered if he might be better off going to a shelter to find "the one," but the nearest one was over an hour's drive away. So he glanced through the ads, keeping an eye open for adults that were already litter-trained (because apparently that was a thing).

It was a fluffy white Angora rabbit that met all of his criteria. Sora pulled up to the suburban home with his newly acquired pet-carrier, Kairi stationed in the passenger's seat.

"What with the kids and all, I barely have time to give him the attention he needs anymore," the lady was saying. "He's gotten pretty matted. Usually I take him to a groomer to get shaved, but, well." She led them into the garage, to a pen made of chicken wire. Sora suppressed a frown at the mess of the place, rabbit waste littering the floor, the food bowl knocked over. He was glad he'd be taking over from here.

"So this is Riku," she announced, holding up the struggling bundle of fur.

"He's bigger than I expected," Sora murmured.

"It's mostly fur. When his fur his trimmed he's at most half this size!" The lady smiled fondly. "Do you have something to put him in?"

"Ah, yeah." Kairi produced the pet carrier. Riku didn't make it easy to get him into it, and when he was finally there, he curled into himself, eyes wide, ears pressed flat against his back.

He stayed like that for the entire drive, and even when Sora opened the carrier to let him out into his cage, he stayed hunkered down for a good long while.

Riku wasn't like the bunnies Sora had seen in YouTube videos, or like Olette's lop-ear. Once he got past the tense, wide-eyed state, he spent hours laying across the room from Sora, sending him doleful stares. When Sora made attempts to work out the mats in his fur, he would kick and grunt.

But he had a cheerful enthusiasm for food, and his posture grew more relaxed as the weeks passed. His coat turned a silvery color, looking healthier than when Sora had first picked him up. And, even if Riku wasn't bouncy and affectionate, Sora noticed when he began to perk up when he got home from work, or stumbled into the kitchen for his morning coffee.

Sora was sitting on the floor with his back against the couch, playing video games, when Riku finally climbed into his lap of his own volition, crawling over his legs, until Sora chuckled and set the controller aside. "Hey, what's this?" The rabbit didn't seem to like sitting in Sora's lap, and instead settled near his knee while Sora stroked his head. "Your fur is so silky," he murmured. Riku cocked a skeptical ear at him, and when Sora went to pick up his controller again, he earned a nip on his thigh.

"Ow! Hey, what was that for?" Riku nudged Sora with his nose, and Sora laughed, giving in and petting him.

Riku didn't turn into an affectionate rabbit. It was enough for him, it seemed, to be in the same room as Sora, and receive occasional pets. And of course his daily treat of a raisin. It was always on Riku's terms. However, Sora was rewarded for his diligence with new behavior.

"He did a binky today!" Sora grinned, pressing his phone to his ear.

"Wow, that's great, Sora! He must really like you!" Sora could hear Kairi's smile in her voice.

"Yeah, it was so cute! I've never seen him with so much energy before! And you know, just the other day, he flopped all the way onto his side so dramatically. I read that they only do that if they really trust you." Sora beamed at Riku, who was eying him from in front of the TV.

He wasn't a dog, he was…Riku. Sora thought he might even like the little guy better than a dog. He had a personality that showed up in the way he snatched raisins from Sora, and the way he sometimes danced around Sora's feet, or leaned against his legs while they watched a movie together.

It showed in the way he thumped the ground angrily when Sora had friends over and didn't pay enough attention to him.

"Hey, what is it with you?" Sora scolded gently one night. "I'm not neglecting you, you know? I have friends." Riku gave him a disbelieving look as Sora combed through his fur, which had grown out again. When he'd had enough of the brushing, he grunted and hopped out of Sora's reach. "Fine, be that way!" Sora stuck out his tongue and made a face.

Easter was coming up again, and Sora couldn't believe he'd had Riku for so long. Sometimes it felt like just a day ago he'd been bemoaning his empty apartment, and sometimes it felt like Riku had been around forever. Sora cradled him in one arm, carefully trimming away the fur that was obscuring his face. It looked a little choppy, but in a week it would even out.

Easter Sunday, Sora was returning home from the pet shop, with a bag full of Riku's favorite willow balls for chewing, and a fresh box of raisins. He frowned when the door swung open, and Riku wasn't clamoring at the bars of his pen. Even though Sora left it open, he still always went there to receive his treats. Instead, he was hunkered down in a corner, eyes half-mast.

Sora only wasted a minute gaping, before dropping his bags and scooping him up.

He was shivering, pressing into Sora's warmth. "Hey, what's the matter?" He ran his fingers through soft fur, checking for injuries, fleas. The dreaded fly strike. Nothing seemed out of place, but Riku ignored the raisin Sora offered. Sora bit his lip. He stroked Riku's head, glancing around. "It's okay, you're going to be okay," he murmured. He pressed a kiss into the fluff on Riku's head.

Tucking Riku in the crook of his arm, he retrieved a towel and wrapped it around him, to make him feel more secure, and set him on floor next to him while he pulled out his phone. A quick search found the emergency vet's number. But did they accept rabbits? Sora punched in the number, keeping a wary eye on Riku.

The phone was still ringing when Riku started thrashing against the towel, and Sora felt a curl of fear in his gut. He glanced at his phone, willing the call to go through, and turned to the closet, pulling out the pet carrier.

The phone clattered to the ground when he turned back around.

Sora's beloved rabbit wasn't there.

Instead, a pale, slender young man sprawled against Sora's couch, nude except for the towel that Sora had wrapped Riku in. He had silver hair, cut in a choppy style, and when he cracked open an eye, it was a startling, robin's egg blue. Sora gaped, mind trying to catch up to what he was seeing in front of him.

The man turned his head, so that both eyes were fixed on Sora, a spark of something like irritation in them. "What?" His voice was low, with a hoarseness that spoke of disuse.

Sora rubbed a hand over his eyes. "Uhm." The man was still there. "Where's—where's Riku?"

A silver eyebrow arched up. "Well happy Easter to you, too, Sora." He huffed a sigh at the movement Sora's mouth was making. He came to his feet with something less than grace, unsteady, but when he straightened, he was taller than Sora. And the towel had fallen from his lap.

Sora's eyebrows dipped, his face turning red in a growing anger. "Who are you? Where's my rabbit?"

It only took a few lurching steps for the man to reach Sora, a hand braced against the wall. "I thought it was obvious."

Sora let out a surprised yelp when teeth nipped his shoulder; it hadn't hurt, exactly, but that was beside the point. "Hey, knock it off! What are you doing in my home?"

"I live here, Sora. You brought me home." His face was very close, nose brushing Sora's cheek with the barest touch. His hair was pressed to Sora's temple, and it was very soft and fine, but Sora was still having trouble accepting the only answer he'd been able to come up with. He had to hear it.

"Riku?"

A small nod, and a smirk. "Keep up, Sora."

Sora's flush darkened, turning from anger into embarrassment. "You're…uhm…very beautiful."

Riku's breath tickled Sora's ear. "So you've told me."

Sora threaded a hand through silvery hair, eyes wide. "So soft," he breathed.

Riku cocked his head, and copied the movement, nails lightly scraping Sora's scalp and sending shivers down his spine; Sora's eyes slipped shut. "It's not enough," Riku murmured, "to be your pet. I want more."

Sora's heart was pounding, his knees weakening at the sound of that low voice, but it was Riku's human eyes on him, the silky lips pressing against his own, that decided it for him. It was probably strange, to agree so readily, to someone that had just a few moments ago been a fluffy bunny. No, that wasn't it. It was strange that it didn't bother him, but he'd already gotten to know Riku. They already shared a home, and if Riku was a person, this person, then why not this, too?

Riku moaned into Sora's mouth when Sora's hands curled against his back, and Riku's skin was as soft and smooth as it looked. Riku was hot, his fingers burning as he pulled at Sora's clothes.

"More," and Sora couldn't deny him. He'd always spoiled Riku, anyway.

It occurred to Sora, when Riku hesitated outside his bedroom door, that it was one of the few places that Riku hadn't been allowed, as a rabbit. It also occurred to him that Riku had already seen him stripped down to just his boxers, which was both embarrassing and comforting as he shucked his shirt, and then let his pants pool on the floor.

Sora even wondered, briefly, if Riku would know what to do, as a human, but instinct drove them, until they were gasping into each other's skin.

Riku was _much_ more affectionate like this.

In the morning, Sora wondered if he'd dreamed it all, but only for a moment. He stroked the silvery head resting on his chest, drew a finger along the pale arm flung across his waist, and smiled.

He had a feeling he'd never be lonely again.


End file.
